All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Gray Lensman]

So he's just allowed to be as racist as he wants, and everyone else is supposed to protect him from the public fallout. F' that.

I say he needs to see more of the huge crowds who hate him. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will trigger him into going permanently catatonic.

[Tami]

I say he needs to see more of the huge crowds who hate him. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will trigger him into going permanently catatonic.

He has been sheltered for far too long.

[kidfresh512]

He has been sheltered for far too long.

That's why he never stops having his rallies that he never pays the bills for. He feeds off the deplorable energy

[Tami]

In impeachment inquiry, Republican lawmakers ask questions about whistleblower, loyalty to Trump and conspiracy theories

Republican lawmakers have used the congressional impeachment inquiry to gather information on a CIA employee who filed a whistleblower complaint, press witnesses on their loyalty to President Trump and advance conspiratorial claims that Ukraine was involved in the 2016 election, according to current and former officials involved in the proceedings.

GOP members and staffers have repeatedly raised the name of a person suspected of filing the whistleblower complaint that exposed Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to conduct investigations into his political adversaries, officials said.

The Republicans have refrained during hearings from explicitly accusing the individual of filing the explosive complaint with the U.S. intelligence community’s inspector general two months ago, officials said.

But the questions have been interpreted as an attempt “to unmask the whistleblower,” whose identity is shielded under federal law, said several officials with direct knowledge of the depositions. Republicans appear to be seeking ways to discredit the whistleblower as well as other witnesses “by trying to dredge up any information they can,” one official said.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That's why he never stops having his rallies that he never pays the bills for. He feeds off the deplorable energy

And the places that have his ridiculous rallies get stiffed on the bill from the White House. That too is deplorable.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of the U.S. House Representative from South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Mark Sanford, a man who while Governor of South Carolina, was once considered a possible future president. That, of course, came to a screeching halt after he went “hiking the Appalachian Trail”. And by that, we mean that he said he was hiking when he actually was taking personal trips to see his Argentinian mistress. This led to Sanford leaving office in disgrace, and of course, an ugly divorce from his wife with a settlement agreement that Sanford has repeatedly been accused of violating, including letting himself over to her place while she wasn’t home to watch the Super Bowl without her knowledge. The last time we checked, Jenny Sanford had forced him to undergo a psychiatric exam for some of his bizarre behavior, like digging holes with a tractor on his property. In typical hypocritical GOP fashion, the adulterer Sanford also was a self-professed champion of “the sanctity of marriage” who wanted to protect the institution from all those gay folks who might threaten it while he was busy sneaking off to see his mistress and shirking his duties as governor. He returned to the Congressional seat he vacated while serving as Governor by winning a public debate he held between himself and a cardboard cutout of Nancy Pelosi (really), and then made the classy move of breaking up with the mistress who he nearly ruined his career for over Facebook while she was in Paris.

Mark Sanford survived a close primary in 2016, partially because he bizarrely spent almost no money on his campaign in that race, befuddling South Carolina Republicans, who know that just invited others to take a shot at knocking him off in 2018. That likelihood is even greater given reports that the Congressman’s fundraising efforts were abysmal. Remember, Sanford’s ex-wife Jenny’s family fortune and connections had a lot to do with his political success prior to his affair. He parlayed what he had into a political comeback in 2012, faced no challenger in 2014, and seems like he was just going through the motions in 2016. As money was looking scarce, he was joking about himself as a “dead man walking”, who is openly critical of Donald Trump and his insane policy ideas. Thus, the incredibly thin-skinned Trump endorsed Sanford’s challenger, Katie Arrington, and she ended up beating Sanford in the 2018 Primary before going on to lose in the general election in November.

And watching Trump flail about and ruin the mystique of the GOP, as well as the grudge that developed over ending his Congressional career… Mark Sanford decided he would run for president in 2020 as a palatable alternative to Donald Trump for “Never Trump” Republicans. The Republican National Committee took swift action earlier this year to assure there would be an uphill battle for any GOP Primary challengers who might emerge, but honestly, even as Trump screeches forward towards much-deserved impeachment, Sanford’s presidential aspirations might just be symbolic at best… only one person showed up to his campaign announcement last week.

We think this will be the last time we end up discussing the Love Gov.

[Tendrin]

Lotsa people on twitter asserting that tomorrow's announcement from the White House will be that the US has either captured or killed Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, for real this time.

[Celgress]

Lotsa people on twitter asserting that tomorrow's announcement from the White House will be that the US has either captured or killed Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, for real this time.

Will anyone really care at this point? ISIS has been in bad shape if not defeated (in a conventional sense at least) for years now. The death of one man no matter how important at one time is no longer that significant.

[jetengine]

America throwing Ukraine under the bus again Visa vi this "They did 2016" bullshit wont help anyone considering the last time they fucked over Ukraine North Korea suddenly gained significantly better Nukes

[worstblogever]

Lotsa people on twitter asserting that tomorrow's announcement from the White House will be that the US has either captured or killed Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, for real this time.

Putting $5 down that he actually says, "A lot of people tried to do it. Obama tried to do it, but he couldn't. But I DID IT."

And then he forgets to thank the troops who carried out the raid.

[Celgress]

America throwing Ukraine under the bus again Visa vi this "They did 2016" bullshit wont help anyone considering the last time they fucked over Ukraine North Korea suddenly gained significantly better Nukes

While I don't think Ukraine should be thrown under the bus necessarily, I doubt the two events are directly related. Correlation does not imply causality.

[Tendrin]

Will anyone really care at this point? ISIS has been in bad shape if not defeated (in a conventional sense at least) for years now. The death of one man no matter how important at one time is no longer that significant.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people a lot closer to it than us will care.

[Tendrin]

Putting $5 down that he actually says, "A lot of people tried to do it. Obama tried to do it, but he couldn't. But I DID IT."

And then he forgets to thank the troops who carried out the raid.

I immediately thought that his talking about this will be all about Doing Something Obama COuldn't.

[Celgress]

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people a lot closer to it than us will care.

Maybe, but I think it might fall flat. I hate to be morbid but on the world stage (if he is indeed dead) the guy was no Osama bin Laden.

[Tendrin]

Maybe, but I think it might fall flat. I hate to be morbid but on the world stage (if he is indeed dead) the guy was no Osama bin Laden.

In that he didn't murder 3000 Americans, sure, but he's at the head of an organization responsible for immeasurable carnage in a large number of people's lives. While the damage he did will live on well after him, I'm glad he won't be able to hurt anyone anymore.

I think you're showing a western-oriented bias here.